Starcom (Aka those little spacemen with magnets on their feet)

o1s1n

You'll have to be a child of the 80s to remember these, as they're fairly obscure. But anyone else here have fond memories of Starcom toys? I absolutely love them.

Unfortunately when I was about 11 I had a garden sale and got rid of the lot. Even more unfortunate for me is they've now become quite valuable.

For example, I had this -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1980s-Starcom-SIX-SHOOTER-Starwing-RARE-/270593641725?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ToysGames_ActionFigures_ActionFigures_JN&hash=item3f00a34cfd#ht_500wt_948

And a couple of these -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1980s-Starcom-TORNADO-GUNSHIP-Star-Wing-/270593641742?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ToysGames_ActionFigures_ActionFigures_JN&hash=item3f00a34d0e#ht_500wt_948

Supposedly the line failed as they were just too realistic and sterile. Strangely enough that's what drew me to them. I loved walking them up the side of my fridge with their magnet feet :pac:

The ships also had a cool feature which allowed them to open up and have other mechanical functions without batteries. They'd make a very memorable buzzing noise while working.

I don't think the cartoon ever aired over here. And I never actually saw any of the toys in shops, got most of them from my American next door neighbour.

Anyway, I spent a fortune buying a load of these back a few years back. Don't regret it one bit!

mar-z

I had (about) three episodes of the cartoon on video. Loved it but as you say I don't think it aired here.

Never saw the toys but would have loved them (anything magnetic was a win).

monkeyfudge

I think The Children's Channel use to show the cartoon.

I know a kid I used to play with had the cool shuttle craft.



(Don't think it was the same kid who had the Voltron though)

Doctor DooM

Ah, thats the starmax bomber, if memory serves.

You could clip the scout ship- thingy on the top and it had magnets on the wings for two more but they didn't really fit.

There was a cargo hold in which a ground vehicle in its "innocent cargo" mode.

Those toys were great, I especially loved the evil ones, the equivalent of the bomber was a giant triangular stealth bomber spaceship and it had little scouts which plugged snuggly right into its wing which were like little pyramids of death.

Gunmonkey

Starcom were awesome, had the bomber meself, also had a weird ship like 2 jet fighters with no wings glued side by side, and the buzzy mechanism made them seperate and a tri-barreled gun popped out.

My friend also had the base which either stood up or folded out, and had a little platform that moved along if you pulled it to one side and pressed a button.

I am currently moving and i found that bomber with another little white one. It has been in the attic ever since i was a kid.

o1s1n

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Those toys were great, I especially loved the evil ones, the equivalent of the bomber was a giant triangular stealth bomber spaceship and it had little scouts which plugged snuggly right into its wing which were like little pyramids of death.

They were called Shadow Force. One of my favourite collection of bad guys ever. Some of the ships were great. The big one is a Shadow Bat and the little ones are called Shadow Parasites if I remember correctly. Such cool names.

They also have a kick ass tank called the Shadow Blast Track. Also pretty damn evil looking.

Their soldiers are these cool little drone robot things.

Feck it, I'm digging it all out when I go out to my parents next!

/edit - do any of you remember Manta Force? They were like a cheaper version of Starcom. There was a baddy ship called The Black Barracuda. There was also another excellent big grey mothership type thing that had a **** load of smaller ones inside.

monkeyfudge

o1s1n wrote: »

/edit - do any of you remember Manta Force? They were like a cheaper version of Starcom. There was a baddy ship called The Black Barracuda. There was also another excellent big grey mothership type thing that had a **** load of smaller ones inside.

Sure do. Started a thread about them too...

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055947270

not_xanthor

o1s1n wrote: »

I don't think the cartoon ever aired over here.!

I don't think the cartoon was ever on terrestrial UK or Irish TV. It began to air just at the time when satellite channels were gaining ground, and scooped up the rights to most if not all cartoons based on toys.

I remember the cartoon being on Super Channel in the afternoons... and (maybe later?) on Sky in the mornings.

The cartoon was a little smarter than the standard 'Evil guy comes up with this weeks scheme which unravels in 22 minutes plus commercials.'

Occasionally, it was quite dark for a kids cartoon, and Shadow Force characters were shown to be a little more than just brainless lackys.

Mimicking the marketing style used by G.I.Joe there were blueprints for vehicles, bios for the characters.

IIRC, Michael Staczynski (sp?) wrote a few episodes as well.


Where did the toy line start to fade away?

Coleco went bust, and the cartoon ended.

I'm not sure if the cartoon ended because Coleco went bust, or if was ending anyway, but the two together sounded the death knell for the line.

Whilst Coleco marketed the toys, in American packaging in the UK and Ireland,
in mainland Europe they used slightly different multilingual packaging, and were distributed by Mattel.


After Coleco went belly up, Multilingual packaged toys were sold here.

Perhaps most significantly, the last year of the toy line was not sold in North America. The toys from that year, the Six shooter, the Shadow Upriser are proably the two most sought after in the line. Last i looked, the Shadow Upriser could easily fetch $300.

o1s1n wrote: »

And I never actually saw any of the toys in shops, got most of them from my American next door neighbour.

Maybe it depends on where you lived, but in Dublin they were easily found for the entire run of the line. It was the 80s after all, toy shops everywhere, rather than Smyths running almost the entire of the domestic toy market.

In fact a little before they switched the packaging, there was a mail in offer where they liquidated toys in the English language packaging... i can't remember the exact details, but the amount of proofs of purchase and/or cash required was low considering what the toys were being sold for at retail.

I think i got a Railgunner, Harv-7, and maybe a Laser Rat, by mail order.

Yeah, i was pretty fond of that toy line.

o1s1n

Nice post Not_xanthor, some interesting info there Do you still have all your Starcom stuff?

not_xanthor wrote: »

The toys from that year, the Six shooter, the Shadow Upriser are proably the two most sought after in the line. Last i looked, the Shadow Upriser could easily fetch $300.

Unfortunately the Six Shooter is one of the things I had when I was younger but sold

Almost bought a Shadow Upriser a few years back but opted out when the bidding went insane.

o1s1n

Took my Starcom out of storage. Thought I'd take a few pics -

o1s1n

Few more!

davidd24

Have 2 starmax bombers and three of the smaller ships.
Always loved starcom.

stone roses

o1s1n wrote: »

Took my Starcom out of storage. Thought I'd take a few pics -

really nice little collection you got tere, i love these toys as a kid, nice condition to! do you have them on display or are the going back into storage? seems a shame if they are!! if they are not to close to your heart and they are going back into storage would you ever consider selling id display in my retro room!

cheers well done ;-)

TelePaul

Wow, blast from the past! Many a happy hour spent scrambling around the radiator.

o1s1n

None of them are for sale at the moment. I had loads and loads of Starcom when I was a kid and sold a lot of it during a garage sale. For nothing too. It has cost me a small fortune to get some of these again as the toy line has a real cult following, making prices expensive.

Recently picked up a few more -

Starhawk. I had one of these when I was younger. But was among the ships I sold. They're rare as they were only released in Europe. It really is a great toy. Lots of little things you can do with it. From the ship splitting and the main red gun coming out, to landing gears and cockpits that come down.







Tornado Gunship -

I didn't have this one, but it's one of the less common ships. Unfortunately the mechanism on my one is broken so it doesn't stay folded up. Still, nice looking yolk -



Now this is what this toy line was really about and made it special. The magnets. Who doesn't love magnets?!




Then I also got one of the space station playsets too.





And here's the lot all together!-

SirLemonhead

I had or still have the giant tower and one of the little grey trucks in the bottom right. Was cool stuff alright

Doctor DooM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sC74LRP3hk

davidd24

Went on a Starcom buying binge thae last few days when i get them ill take pictures.
6 Shooter on Ebay is pricey thou...
Will I or wont I...

ChopShop

o1s1n wrote: »

Tornado Gunship -

tro81

wow had never heard of these before yet im an 80's kid. must be cos i was in to other toys. anyway picked up a large load of toys recently, not as good condition as these thou. was wondering what they are. some of the toys im keeping for myself but if anyone is interrested in more starcom i might be willing to let it go or do swaps. i have this starcom base with landing pad etc. i can post on ads if anyone is interrested.

davidd24

Thought id Revive this thread and got some of my collection out for cleaning and oiling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88993615@N05/with/8111969077/#photo_8111969077

stone roses

Hi great collections up here, anyone looking to sell?? Just pm me, cheers

finbaromahony

I took my starcom out of the shed for my 5 year old, condition varies from OK to "what the hell is this" but he's loving them, and he's not usually one for toys as such

finbaromahony

htt_p://s534.photobucket.com/user/finbar_omahony/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG-20160903-WA0000.jpeg.html

I'm not allowed post images

The_Valeyard

Oh wow, this thread brings me back to my childhood, loved the starcom stuff, hours upon hours of endless fun.

quad_red

Last Christmas my mom produced these from when I was a kid and my four year old flipping loves them. As does every boy who comes into the house - 4 to 12 years old.

The retro space look with a little bit of NASA esque 'realism' is something that's not in toys now. Combined with the general sturdiness and the battery less movement stuff.

Really fantastic. If they released em exactly the same as they were they'd sell by the bucketload.